Alert 10-year-old follows stranger who took his younger sister out of school

NEW YORK — A 10-year-old New York City boy followed a man who took his younger sister from their public school in Brooklyn, police said.

The man walked into Public School 189 in Brooklyn around 2:20 p.m. on Feb. 7 and grabbed a 6-year-old student by her hand, officials told WPIX. The girl's older brother saw what had happened and followed the two until they arrived in front of 318 Rochester Avenue, roughly a half-mile away.

At that point, the man released the girl's hand. Her brother immediately grabbed his sister and they both retreated to the home of a relative who lives nearby.

Police initially described the incident as a kidnapping by a man in his 50s. Officials now say the man was in his 90s and picked up the wrong child from school.

Neither child was injured during the incident.

An Education Department spokeswoman said the incident happened during an after-school program that wasn't run by the DOE.